You are here

Oregon

Common Murre Reproductive Biology and Foraging Ecology

Yaquina Head is home to 60,000 – 80,000 common murres during the breeding season – one of the largest murre colonies on the west coast. The Bureau of Land Management manages the Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area, located only 6 miles from our marine lab here in Newport. We have conducted research at this colony since 2007. Between our studies and those conducted by Dr. Julia Parrish (University of Washington), we now have over a decade long time series at this site with hopes of continuing this long-term coastal research and monitoring program. Our research here focuses on how changes in the marine environment affect murre reproductive success and foraging through “bottom-up”, food web processes, as well as “top-down” effects of how predators, such as bald eagles, impact murre productivity and population dynamics.

This seabird colony is adjacent to the Newport Oceanographic sampling line and soon to be deployed Endurance ocean observing system array, providing a perfect opportunity for integrating upper trophic level predators into marine ecosystem studies off Oregon. Yaquina Head also is a very popular public attraction viewed by over 150,000 visitors and school groups annually.

Suryan, R.M. et al. 2007-2017. Yaquina Head Seabird Colony Monitoring. End of season summary report to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Land Management. LINK TO PDFs, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014. 2015, 2016, 2017